Israel will use non-military means to respond to ongoing rocket attacks against it from the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday, hinting at a plan for sanctions against civilian infrastructure in the salient such as limiting the flow of water and electricity.
‘We have means, means which are not only military,’ she told a joint news conference in Jerusalem with visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. ‘It is our duty to take these steps.’
She spoke hours after a locally-produced Qassam rocket injured at least 47 soldiers when it hit an Israeli army base close to the Strip.
The attack would however not affect the ongoing renewed talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
‘On the one hand we need to act against the terrorists in Gaza. ‘On the other hand we need to reach an understanding with the moderates n the West Bank,’ she said, referring to Abbas and his Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Livni placed ultimate responsibility on the radical Islamic Hamas movement, in de facto control of the Gaza Strip, for the attack, which was claimed by two other militant groups, the Popular Resistance Committees and the Islamic Jihad.
‘It doesn’t really matter which organization took responsibility. Gaza is entirely controlled by Hamas. Hamas has the ability to stop it (the rocket fire) and has decided not to do that,’ she said, adding Israel’s policy was to make a ‘clear distinction’ between the moderate leadership led by Abbas in the West Bank and the extremist administration in Gaza.
Kouchner said the groups behind the rocket attack ‘do not want any dialogue’ and were seeking to ‘undermine the process of negotiations between Israel and Abu Mazen (Abbas).’
‘I understand that Israel has to defend its population,’ he said when asked about a possible Israeli reaction.
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